The Taxman
by zethonring
Summary: Little known anti-hero Nightshade embarks on an evening out that ends much darker than planned


I wandered this night, as I did on many others. Soaking in the crisp air and booming sounds of the city. It amazed me how it always felt the same, however much time passed I never got tired of it. Despite my relatively humble beginnings, something about the chaos of the city always appealed to me, despite its shortcomings, somehow there was beauty in the madness, especially at night. Gorgeous as day may be, the allure of the dark always attracted me, for more reasons than one. On this night however, things seemed to be going different. I wandered and waded through corners of the town I rarely even thought about, looking for an escape. Sifting through dive bar after nightclub, I eventually found a place that seemed halfway decent, an underground joint, "Abandon" with the "N" stylized to look suspiciously like a "D".

I headed inside, and somewhat disappointingly it felt like any other place at first, awkwardly stiff with the distant stench of cigarettes and stale beer. If nothing else I could kill a couple hours here, or so I thought. It was the usual fare at first, deadbeat dads and college kids drinking their lives away, I didn't even respond to the occasional looks from across the bar. The only person here that interested me even the slightest was the bartender. He wasn't particularly handsome but something drew me to him all the same, something about his aura. I sat around for some time, waiting for the riff raff to clear out before the conversation really got going.

"Not seen you around here before"

"Not my part of town"

"Never is for most people, they're all obsessed with living in the moment, or the past." I nodded in agreement as he looked into the distance, as though contemplating a life now passed.

"Those looking for something in between are hard to find...but it all works out in the end"

"Does it though?"

"I suppose not in every sense of the word, but in some scenario, in someone's life everything is a victory."

"I'm not sure I follow"

"For example, say I shut shop early, go home... maybe with some company, maybe make a night of it. Sucks for everyone else here but it's a victory for us." He finishes before backing away slightly after noticing my look of uncertainty.

"Or me." he chuckles before putting a glass away and speaking more, "I don't believe I caught your name."

"You didn't." I said, adding nothing more.

"I'm Adam." he smiled softly.

"Eve." I replied.

Before I knew it I was back at his place, wandering through his assortment of art and furniture. If nothing else he was a man of passion, particularly for the underworld. For many, such sights would be unsettling, for me it couldn't feel more familiar. My first thought upon entering was how immense the size of his house was, for a man his age to own a property of this magnitude was unheard of in this day and age. I was desperate to ask him about it but didn't want to break the illusion of beauty before me, of a life well lived with little to no consequence. After visiting his bathroom I saw one painting that stood out to me more than any other. It was of a fantasy land, the likes of which didn't seem unfamiliar. I racked my brain for some time trying to make sense of it, _impossible_ , I thought, _it could never be_. As I left the bathroom and made my way down the hall he conveniently appeared at the other end with a drink in each hand. He smiled calmly as he handed me one and took a drink himself. We then drank as he explained some of his paintings to me. Most had a fairly bland back story, the type I'd forget first thing the following morning, but there was one that struck up a rather interesting conversation.

"Truth be told I find the whole superhero phenomenon rather silly" he said. I disagreed, but not too vocally.

"Not for everyone I suppose"

"They shouldn't be for anyone. The fact they're even called 'heroes' boggles me really. They cause more pain and suffering then they could ever hope to end"

"We'll just have to agree to disagree on that one." I said, hoping to change the conversation swiftly, if there was one topic I didn't want to ponder tonight it was this.

"Must we though?"

"I think so, yes... why don't you tell me more about your other works."

"Truth be told I really only wanted to show you this one." he said, gesturing to the painting of a familiar crest.

"Why this one?"

"I think you know why" he responded, a smile now creeping across his face that seemed less romantic and much more sinister. It was now I decided it best to act before things got even further, though I knew it was likely too late.

"You know... it's getting pretty late, I might have to take off"

"Already?"

"I'm afraid I must, I've work tomorrow you see and-" the remaining words were lost to me. Try as I might they wouldn't come out.

"Something the matter?" he asked, sounding sincere but not looking it in the slightest. I fell to my knees as my breath began to leave me, I was suffocating.

"Don't tell me you're down for the count already Eve? Don't worry" he said, kneeling over me as I fell on my back and began to lose consciousness

"I'll make this nice and quick." At this I tried my hardest to resist, reaching deep inside my being for something that lay dormant, but it was no use. As the world around me vanished, any and all skill was lost to me in a melancholy haze.

I woke to a bitter taste in the back of my throat and a pounding headache worse than the grizzliest of hangovers. I could barely see, for a moment I thought my sight may have left me, then I caught a break in the light not too far away. As my eyes drew in to focus, I caught the sight of a grizzly figure who seemed to come from hell itself. Before me stood a figure draped in robes of black and silver, in his hand lay a syringe, and upon his head the skull of some creature I hope didn't really exist. With its jagged teeth and blood red horns, it was hard not to believe I wasn't really face to face with the man himself. I strained in agony as I felt the thick straps holding my frame to the metallic board. He stared at me in silence, hovering over my visage as I tried my hardest to hold back my emotions. Someone needed to say something soon, or I was going to snap. After a dozen more agonizing seconds of silence I finally broke;

"I see all the occult stuff wasn't just for show"

"Quite the contrary." He said, shuffling around the room as he looked through his utensils, this was a man of planning and precision, sickeningly so.

"Tell me, Eve, do you believe in hell?"

"Not really, do you?"

"It's not a matter of believing dear; but knowing."

"Knowing?"

"Yes, knowing that there are other worlds than these."

"Sounds like BS to me."

"Is that so? Then what, may I ask, do you think in regards to your homeland?"

"I don't know what you're talking about"

"I think you do... Nightshade." I had nothing to say to this one, I merely continued to stare, the bastard knew me all too well, I couldn't summon my powers with the cartoonishly large light he had glaring at me. It was beyond discomfort.

"There are many mythical things in this world, but you are not one of them."

"What did you spike me with? I know poisons don't work too well on me but I've never felt anything like this before"

"A little concoction I created recently, solar energy distilled with the essence of vodka, I call it liquid light, to your tastes I imagine"

"Just who the hell are you?" I asked, finally tired of his delaying the inevitable, he seemed pleased at my question more than anything as he made his way across the room.

"Why, see for yourself darling." As he reached the end of the room I finally caught more of where I was. I hadn't seen it clearly at first, but now I could notice the silhouettes and shadows of figures in the distance, I was dealing with a maniac. As the lights engulfed the room I looked in horror at the sights before me, a plethora of people, most of them looking terrified, were scattered about the room. Most of them I'd never seen before, but some looked frighteningly familiar. They were all frozen solid, as though petrified into some never ending slumber.

"Like my work?" he said, walking around and examining some of the various victims. There was no way this could be real, no chance this was the man I'd heard so much about.

"It's not as easy as it seems you know, Taxidermy on humans has always been such a troublesome affair" he said, with an air of pride in his voice.

"You're him..." I muttered, struggling to form words as the increased intensity of light disoriented me even further.

"I'm who?"

"You're the Taxman"

"The Taxman? That's what they're calling me these days are they? Suppose I shouldn't expect anything original from the tabloids these days, no." he said, grabbing a tray full of tools and making his way closer to me. The more I looked at the people surrounding me the more I began to recognize them. These weren't people I knew, but many I knew of. Countless people had gone missing in the area over the past few months, sometimes lone wanderers, other times entire parties, occasionally their stuffed bodies would be found in the basements of old abandoned houses. This had been going on for years, in various cities across the country, I never imagined it could be the work of one man.

"Where are the rest of you?"

"Rest of me? Not sure how to say this, but simply put there aren't any, I gave up on worshipping in groups a long time ago, the rest of them were too soft, even the ones that were open to crime" he said, shrugging dismissively. "Yes they say they're occultists, but most I suspect are simply looking for a place to belong, a way to feel unique. But one thing I've learnt in my years Eve, no one is unique, not even those at the top."

"Not even you?"

"Oh no, I don't do this to feel unique, far from it, I'm simply trying to satisfy my hunger."

"For what?"

"It's hard to explain, but, vices come in many flavours, for some it's stealing, for others it's gambling. For me... it's capturing that moment of utter despair and hopelessness. Yes, it's something I quite enjoy. And with you added to my collection, 'Nightshade' the femme fatale from another dimension, I think this may be the start of a new chapter." he said, by now I felt I very well may be sick at any given second. Sweat poured down my brow as I tried my hardest to concentrate and draw out any and all power I had left. Before long however, he was stood over me yet again, and even more disturbingly I could make out the distant shade of a smile beneath his hellish mask.

"You're insane"

"To some, I suppose." he muttered, shrugging the words off as though he'd heard them a thousand times before.

"Take it you've been told that already."

"Once or twice yes. Makes no difference to me, where would I be, where would any of us be if we worried about the thoughts of the herd. Now, hold still will you." he said, securing the operating table and making sure the straps were tight as possible. I tried my hardest to squirm but found I couldn't move an inch, he smiled at my meek efforts. Walking over to a table he returned a moment later with a tray of tools, the type that seemed less for precision and more for inflicting damage. This madman had something even darker than I imagined in mind. It was now or never, I searched to the very deepest corners inside me to make something happen, anything that could delay the incoming agony. Nothing seemed to come, so I continued with my one and only tactic.

"What exactly are you gonna do? And come a little closer I can't really hear."

"Well, I suppose I owe you that much at the very least." he said, placing his tray down beside him and leaning over me, his shadow blocked out the bright glare of the overhead light for just enough time for me to catch my breath.

"I'm going to hurt you. Now, how long that lasts exactly is down to you, this can be quick and easy, or it can take hours, days in fact. All I ask is you show me how you feel, I need to see it, in your face, in your movements, even through the strain in your screams, do you think you can do that? Because if not..." he continued, picking up a syringe from the tray full of a glowing liquid that looked eerily familiar.

"Then I have ways of making you obey." He said, looking at me with curiosity.

"Perhaps. But before then I need you to do something for me." He tilted his head in curiosity at my request.

"What's that?"

"Drop dead." I replied, and with that I leapt from the table, the straps flying apart in tatters. It was a struggle with my energy sapped quite a bit, by now I was running on pure adrenaline. He stumbled back in a panic, not believing his eyes.

"What are you-" he began as I leapt to destroy the surrounding lights. He tripped over multiple times as he made for his escape. But it was too late for him now, with the lights gone I could feel the darkness welling up inside me. I could feel my power returning. I levitated above the ground and watched him attempt his escape, I almost laughed at how pathetic he looked. Once he approached the door I shot toward him, nearly at full speed as I pushed the door closed as he laid his hand upon it. He was breathing heavily now, his mask askew and his eyes darting from one corner of the room to the next. It took everything I had just to maintain my composure, even now in my element the effects of his "liquid light" still ran through my system. I wouldn't be able to do this much longer, but he didn't know that.

As a last resort he then began to kick himself back into a corner, his breath coming out in hasty rasps. I could tell he wanted to say something, but I couldn't quite figure out what. After half a dozen attempts I finally caught wind of the word escaping him;

"How?" he muttered desperately.

"Oh it wasn't too hard. Only needed the smallest amount of shadow really. Despite all the light in the room I was still able to make something with the minute amount of darkness that resulted from you leaning over me a moment ago. Then it was just a matter of making something sharp enough in time and slipping it beneath the shadows of my under-body and to my wrists and ankles. You wouldn't have seen it, so don't feel too bad." I explained, and then he did something I truly didn't expect; Adam Jessops began to laugh. I panicked for a second or two, thinking he may have something else up his sleeve, though it soon became apparent this wasn't a laugh of victory, but rather of resignation.

"You Superheroes never fail to amaze me" he muttered, his breathing now better, though still far from perfect.

"Oh I'm no hero, Taxman, I'm just a lady with one too many talents."

"Indeed." he said, still chuckling underneath his breath.

"I suppose this is it then? You going to kill me"

"Oh no, I wouldn't dream of doing that. I might not be a hero, but I'm no cold blooded killer. No, what I have in store for you is far worse. You're going to suffer on this world long before you get sent to hell I'm afraid." I replied, and now for the very first time he sounded genuinely terrified, he could barely string his sentences together.

"Wh-what are you talking about."

"You're going to jail Adam, but not before I show you what you're in for." I said, and with that the darkness began enveloping him

"No- wait, what are you..." he babbled as the final tendrils of light evaporated in the surrounding dark, he began screaming soon after, a scream the likes of which I'd never heard. Soon after I took him upstairs, bound him and called the police, leaving him lying in the floor in a puddle of his own vomit begging for the nightmarish illusions to end. Some might think it cruel, but to me it was more than he deserved. I left his place and walked out into the cold night air of the city. I wasn't sure exactly how long had passed, but luckily enough, daybreak hadn't begun. I smirked with joy at the prospect of the long night continuing as I went out to explore it.

There was quite a bit in the paper about it the following days, the infamous "Taxman" caught after half a decade running amok through middle America. Captured they say, by an unidentified assailant, one he still refuses to identify even after extensive questioning, he speaks only of her shadowy black hair and paper white skin that will haunt him for the rest of his days. Just as I'd hoped. I was never in this for the fame, if that were the case I'd have a different look. No, I wasn't in this to be somebody, I already am somebody. I'm no hero, nor a villain, I am Nightshde, and nothing else.


End file.
